This invention pertains generally to the dispensing of hunting odor producing liquids. It is specifically concerned with the dispensing of hunting odors which are intended to create a particular recognition of a naturally occurring odor.
Some odors are used to mask the smell of a human. Particularly strong odors such as the skunk odor work well as masks, although the strength of odor required depends in part on the strength of the odor being emitted by the human, or more particularly the strength of the odor which is to be masked. The dispensed odor, if strong enough, overpowers an animal's odor sensors so that the odor to be masked is not detected.
Another use of dispensed odors in creating recognition in animals is as an attractant. Deer, for example, are attracted to certain natural smells emitted by other deer. A buck deer may be attracted to the natural smell of a doe which is ready for breeding. And does are at times attracted to certain natural smells emitted by a buck.
By proper and clever use of odors to imitate certain natural smells, a person may, at times, be very close indeed to certain animals which are otherwise difficult to approach, without the person ever being detected by smell. And the person may, by the use of odors, attract a larger number of animals to a location, where the person may be. These methods are useful for hunting the larger species of wild game, particularly where it is necessary to come into close proximity to the game. For example, the photographer comes into close proximity to take good photographs. The archer typically comes within at least 25 yards of the animal before attempting to shoot it. And in densely populated areas, where shotguns typically used for hunting, approach to within 75 yards is important, and to within 50 yards is desirable. The animals involved are sometimes able to detect a human odor at much greater distances than these. Thus is the intelligent use of odors helpful in manipulating game into close proximity.
Odor producing products for hunting are most commonly sold as freely flowing liquids in a plastic bottle where the bottle has a cap with a stowable dispensing nozzle built into it. When the nozzle is erected, a hole, of about 1 or 2 millimeters diameter through the nozzle provides a dispensing passage. The liquid is dispensed by turning the bottle upside down and squeezing the bottle to dispense the liquid as drops. Using this technique, the odor producing liquid for hunting may conveniently be emplaced on an absorbent material such as clothing. It is also commonly desirable to emplace the odor producing liquid for hunting on certain non-absorbent objects--namely objects which do not readily absorb liquid. Such objects as boots, belts, trees, leaves, logs and the like are also good places for emplacing a film of the odor producing liquid. This is quite difficult with the dropwise dispensing bottles, as the drops tend to fall off the non-absorbent objects onto the ground and ground litter, where they are not nearly as effective. This is a significant loss of such a costly product. While it is possible to emplace the liquid on non-absorbent articles, it is messy, and wasteful, because of the dripping losses. Regarding absorbent objects, such as the hunter's clothing, some people find the odors which are used to be objectionable, and so are not anxious to put the liquid on their clothing.
Another problem with the capped bottle style container is that the cap itself may loosen, and the contents of the bottle may leak out. This can easily happen as the user may keep the bottle in a pocket while actively engaging in the hunt, and may totally ignore equipments while thusly engrossed in the hunt.
As an attempted improvement on this system, cloth patches have been used, wherein the liquid is put on a small patch of cloth. The cloth is then emplaced. It may be pinned to the user, for example, or emplaced anywhere in the area desired, wherever a stable location may be found, where it will not be blown away, for example. This method is still messy, and other than the use of a pin, no efficient provision has been made for emplacing the patches so they would be stable, and not blown around or otherwise moved from the desired location. Also, temporary storage of the once-used patches may be desirable, but no good storage method has yet been proposed.
While existing products have been used for many years, the above identified needs and problems have not been resolved. Liquid is still being spilled and dripped into the ground. Hunters still mark their own clothing, and tolerate the lingering smell on the clothing after the hunt.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved dispensing package for the containment and dispensing of odor producing liquids for hunting, and improved methods for dispensing the liquid. It is a further object to provide an odor dispensing package which can be readily used to mark non-absorbent objects without dripping substantial portions of the liquid from the object being marked, or unintentionally spilling the liquid from the package. It is still another object to provide a package which can be set up to dispense the liquid at a relatively uniform rate without the risk of spilling the liquid. Another objective is to provide a package which minimizes the risk of liquid spills under all conditions of shipping, handling, and use.